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COURSE CARE

Better Late Than Never
February 27, 2015

Better Late Than Never

By Bob Vavrek, Senior Agronomist
October 16, 2008

Walk into any maintenance facility and there's usually a big
calendar above the superintendant's desk that is crammed with
notes about sprayer applications, outings, and other various
records or reminders. In days gone by, a big circle around a
date in early September would typically designate the day set
aside for coring the greens. With increasing frequency, that
bold circled date tends to be found closer to Columbus Day or
Halloween instead of Labor Day.

There are plenty of sound agronomic reasons why later summer
is better than late fall when it comes to cultivating the
greens with hollow tines at courses across the north central
tier of states. High soil temperatures during late August/early
September encourage the holes to heal over quickly. On the
other hand, forget about holes healing over after a few hard
frosts occur. Greens that go into the winter with thin, bumpy
surfaces will enter the spring with thin, bumpy surfaces; and
spring is a time when cold soil temperatures slow down the rate
of recovery to a snail's pace.

To be fair, there is no shortage of non-agronomic reasons to
schedule an aggressive hollow tine coring as late as possible.
The temporary disruption to play was and continues to be the
prime reason why coring is pushed to the shoulder season. In
today's economy, the loss of revenue associated with closing
the course for even one day and then annoying golfers for a
week or so comes in a close second. After all, we hope for a
dry, mild, sunny day to complete coring operations, and those
days are golden when a couple of soggy spring weekends put a
big crimp into the season's cash flow.

What to do? Why core at all? Granted, there are a few, and,
I do mean a few, golf courses that topdress greens perfectly
and manage the turf in a manner that makes aggressive
cultivation unnecessary. However, I don't need to take my shoes
off to count the number of times during the past 18 seasons
that I have made verbal or written TAS recommendations to omit
hollow tine coring for greens. In my experience, those who have
had the smarts, experience, and luck to manage great greens
without any cultivation also have been honest enough to admit
that they may need to, and will, initiate a coring program in
the future if problems such as layering or reduced water
percolation occur. In contrast, there is another group who
never core and are in denial regarding serious soil problems,
which ultimately becomes the next superintendent's concern.

There are many reasons why greens need to be cultivated
regularly. Excess organic matter accumulation in the upper soil
profile is high on the list. Topdressing will dilute any
additional buildup of organic matter, but the existing thatch
needs to be physically removed by some form of aggressive
cultivation. Hollow tine cultivation is ideal for addressing a
thatch problem because removing the cores from the playing
surface is a relatively simple process. Don't chop up the cores
and recycle some of the organic matter back into the greens
when the purpose of cultivation is to eliminate thatch. Filling
the holes with sand provides a smoother surface and accelerates
the rate of recovery.

As mentioned above, late fall isn't the ideal time to
cultivate greens. However, when excess organic matter is a
problem and the only two choices are late coring or never
coring, then go ahead and core. Understand and communicate the
potential problems of late cultivation to golfers. Make the
extra effort to fill the holes with sand in hopes of providing
a smoother surface next spring. Filling the holes and leaving a
little extra sand on the surface may also help reduce the
potential for wind desiccation during an open winter. Halloween
coring just may result in some Thanksgiving should wet, hot
weather occur next summer.

Speaking of Thanksgiving; you don't want to miss attending
the 43
rd
Annual Wisconsin Golf Turf Symposium being held the week before
this holiday on November 18-19, 2008. This year's topic is
water,
and experts from across the country will discuss critical
issues such as wells, best management practices for irrigating
golf turf, water quality, water treatments, modern irrigation
system technology/innovations, permitting, pond issues, water
rights, water conservation and much more. Everyone who manages
turf can learn something from this unique educational
opportunityâ€¦not to mention the excellent meeting facilities at
the American Club. Call the American Club ASAP for reservations
(800) 344-2838 and mention the Turf Symposium - don't wait if
you want the great rate. Contact my office or Shelley Biro at
Milorganite (800) 287-9645 for registration information.
SBiro@milorganite.com